United States
Fort Collins, CO
New Belgium
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The tale began in Belgium with an epiphany of beerophoria for Jeff Lebesch, an American electrical engineer, as he was cruising along on his fat tired mountain bike. While pedaling across this lovely country of lovely beers, Jeff not only acquired the special yeast strain now used for their Abbey Belgian Style Ale, he also decided to pursue his dream of opening a small brewery back home in Colorado. Shortly after the trip, his home-brewed trials of Belgian style beers began earning friend-tested approvals, yet, - being the deep-thinking quiet type - he knew it would take a bit more to go commercial. Kim Jordan, his wife, has always been wryly suspicious that Jeff saw more than just his life partner in her; she speculates he also saw his brewery’s gregarious marketing arm.
In June of 1991, from a tiny basement operation in their Fort Collins home, New Belgium Brewing Company (NBB) capped its first brews. Kim reminisces, - We had a neighbor paint watercolors that we printed up as beer labels. Jeff would brew, we would bottle together with some help from our son, Zack, then I would call accounts and deliver the beer. - When Kim delivered beer from her station wagon alongside 16 bay Bud trucks, she prompted cheerful ribbing from local retailers.
The curiously named Fat Tire Amber Ale (after Jeff’s bike ride) and the other New Belgium beers developed a tiny and happy following first in Fort Collins, and then in the rest of Colorado. Steve at Telluride Liquors used to offer people gas money if, when travelling through Fort Collins, they’d stop in at the basement brewery and pick up New Belgium beer. Even today, while they are distributed in just a third of the western U.S., the brewery receives numerous e-mails and phone calls a day inquiring when their beers will be available elsewhere.
Soon, Kim, Jeff and a blossoming crew, including the first employee owner, Brian Callahan, outgrew the basement operation, then overflowed a second location at a former railroad depot, and finally in 1995 designed themselves a marvel-of-the-industry brewing facility. Highlights include not one, but two quality assurance labs, a profoundly automated brew house, a one of a kind yeast propagator and 6 miles of stainless steel piping.
As well, this brewing facility is a nationally recognized paradigm of environmental efficiency. From leading edge enviro-gizmos (like the steam condenser on kettle reusing hot water) to conspicuous pragmatism (sun tubes providing daytime lighting), one can witness conservation and recycling throughout many functions of the building. In fine environmental pioneering fashion, the entire New Belgium staff agreed in 1998 to the financial commitment to make their facility the first wind powered brewery in America.
Even though the New Belgium ride has been a fast and, at times, semi-crazy one, Kim and Jeff still manage to smile and laugh often. They are lightning quick to credit their fellow employees. Kim, in 1999, upon receiving a regional entrepreneur of the year award, immediately thanked her co-workers for showing her - everyday what the elegant solution to running a business looks like. - From the very beginning, New Belgium has striven to create a convivial atmosphere among co-workers. Echoing the company’s bike seat conception, New Belgium’s most signature benefit is the gift of a fat tire cruiser bike to each employee after a year.
From Kim and Jeff’s basement beginnings to the rather diverse collection of exuberant folks who now comprise New Belgium Brewing Company, the saying on the beer packaging - in this box is our labor of love, we feel incredibly lucky to be creating something fine that enhances people’s lives - still captures the every day spirit of this company.
(Info from: New Belgium, 2002)
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